Ugandan police have detained a lawmaker, and close ally of opposition leader Bobi Wine, for his alleged role in election-related violence last week.
Muwanga Kivumbi, a deputy leader of Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP), is accused of organising attacks on a police station and a vote-tallying centre after their electoral loss, which the party denies.
The police have said that seven people were killed in the incident, but the politician has given a different account, saying that 10 people were killed at his home as they waited for parliamentary election results.
The Uganda Police Force stated that Kivumbi would be arraigned before court in due course.
His arrest is connected to recent incidents of political violence, which escalated after President Yoweri Museveni was re-elected for a seventh term.
This electoral cycle has seen significant tension, with Museveni warning opposition figures of plans to attack polling stations. In his victory speech, he cited groups of armed opposition supporters attempting to engage in violent acts.
In contrast, Wine has criticized the electoral process as fraudulent and claimed there has been ongoing violence against opposition supporters, estimating over 100 casualities relating to the electoral violence, claims which lack clear evidence.
Since the elections, there have been reports of mass arrests among the youth linked to election-related incidents, raising alarm about the government's stance on dissent. Uganda's political history, marked by Museveni's long-standing rule since 1986, has seen a consistent lack of peaceful transfer of power.
